Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger has levied a $5,000 fine against a Kansas-licensed insurance company and has ordered premium refunds for those consumers affected by the company’s statute violations. In an order issued Dec. 8, Commissioner Praeger ordered Progressive Direct Insurance Company, based in Mayfield Village, Ohio, to pay the monetary penalty for violating statutes and regulations of the Kansas Insurance Department (KID).

A new report shows Kansas ranks sixth lowest in the nation for average auto insurance expenditures, according to Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance. This is the fifth consecutive year the state has been ranked as a leader in lower rates.

The Kansas Insurance Department had a record month in September for insurance claim recoveries for consumers, Commissioner Sandy Praeger announced.

The department’s Consumer Assistance Division recovered nearly $4.5 million during the month through disputed claims from insurance companies. The total for the year now stands at $13.2 million, close to the $13.6 million recovered during all of 2008.

Kansas State Representative Clark Shultz, (R-73rd District) joined dozens of other state lawmakers from across the United States in Washington, D.C., this week at a meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He consulted with the regulators about federal and insurance industry issues affecting Kansas consumers.

In an effort to minimize the potential negative public health and financial impacts of the H1N1 influenza A virus, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger and Kansas State Health Officer Jason Eberhart-Phillips, M.D., issued a joint letter today to Kansas health insurers asking for assistance in education and vaccination procedures.

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is currently making the annual distribution of money to state and local firefighter relief organizations.

More than $9.2 million will be distributed among 582 local Firefighters Relief Associations (FRAs) across the state. That is an increase of more than $300,000 over the 2008 total.List of association distributions by county

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is planning to visit area farmers' markets during the summer months to promote healthy lifestyle choices and to stress the importance of diet and exercise as key elements in preventing disease.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Commissioner Praeger said. "We are promoting the idea of eating healthy and shopping locally, and a farmers' market is the ideal place for that."

If the United States intends to strengthen the financial system, we should move quickly to pass measures that add checks and balances to the regulatory process, not remove them.

Our current system of insurance regulation is under attack by large insurance organizations and members of Congress. Proposed reforms would remove successful state regulation in favor of federal oversight. But state regulation has, in fact, guided insurance companies through many financial solvency issues.

Kansas consumers who purchased a long-term care policy in the last three years now have additional financial guarantees under a Kansas Insurance Department-sponsored bill that was signed into law Monday. Language in House Bill 2052 allows some long-term care policyholders to enhance policies to protect financial assets that might otherwise be used in paying for long-term care services, said Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance.

A Kansas Insurance Department-sponsored bill passed last week by the state Legislature would help Kansans who recently lost their jobs get health insurance assistance through the new federal stimulus legislation, according to Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance.

In the face of continuing media and consumer confusion regarding American International Group Inc. (AIG) and the role of state insurance regulators, the Kansas Insurance Department urges caution and a close examination of the facts.

A Kansas Insurance Department-sponsored bill introduced last week in the Kansas House of Representatives would help Kansans who recently lost their jobs get health insurance provisions under the new federal stimulus legislation, according to Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance.

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger offered the following assessment of Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius as President Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Health and Human Services:

"Governor Sebelius is very well-qualified to assume this important position at this critical time. She has a unique understanding of health insurance from her tenure as insurance commissioner. She also knows the importance of state-based regulation and the valuable role commissioners play in protecting consumers."

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger’s office helped thousands of Kansas consumers settle disputes with their insurance companies in 2008, recovering more than $13.6 million in insurance claims for policyholders.

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